Improvement in prttning-knife



strut chillin.

HENRY ALTER, 0F LAKEPORT, CALIFORNIA.

Letters Patent No. 99,390, dated February 1, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN PRUNING--KNIER The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may conce-rn Be it known that I, HENRY ALTER, of Lakeport, county of Lake, State of California, have invented an Improved Pruning-Device; and I do hereby declare the following description and accompanying drawings are sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains, to make and use my said invention or improvements, without further invention or experiment.

My invention relates to an improved device for pruning or loppiiig oli'the branches or limbs of trees; and l 1t consists of a curved knife, operated by means of a lever and spring, so arranged as to be easily handled and operated, even at adist-ance from the ground.

It also consists of a sa-w secured in the handle or level', which can be opened and closed similar to the blades of a knife, and with which large limbs or branches can be severed from the tree.

In order toniore fully illustrate and explain my invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming a-part of this specicat-iou, in which- Figure lis a longitudinal sectional view of my improved knife, 'and Figure 2, a perspective view of the upper portion, showing the slot a, in which the blade B traverses.

A is a metal bar, curved at its upper end.

This. barv has a narrow slot, a, extending from the curved end, along its length, to near or past its middle, in accordance with the length of the knife to be used.

'lhe knife B is made thin, 'and operates in the slot c, its point being curved,so as tovform a hook similar to an ordinary pruning-knife. The lower circle of the point is sharpened.

The lower end of the knife is enlarged, as shown, and has au elongated slot cut through it, thl'ough which the pin, rivet, or bolt l passes.

This rivet also passes through the opposite sides of the slot (Z, in the handle C, which is also bolted or riveted lto the bar A, so that by drawing the lever or handle downward, the knife is drawn down, so as to bring the hooked knife in contact with or into the slot in the\ourved end of the bar A.'

The knife B is provided with a slot, e, through which a boltor rivet, f, passes, said rivet also passing through the bar A, on each side of the slot a.

The bolt or rivet f serves to guide the knife in its movements up and down, the slot e being long enough to allow the curved point ofthe knife to be raised sufciently above the curved end of the bar A to receive the limbor branch ofthe trce.

A tlat steelv or other suitable spring, D, serves to' throw the knife upward after it has been drawn down by the handle C, the lower end ofthe knife heilig out ava 1, so as to prevent the spring from being released by the action of the knife.

A saw, E, is secured by a rivet or bolt in the end of thc handle C, in a suitable slot, so as to be opened or closed similar to the blades of a knife, a back springV bein g usually employed to hohl the saw when it is opened. In the accompanying drawings, a staple serves to answer the same purpose `as the back spring of a knife-handle.

The lower end of the bar A is provided with a suitable hole, into which a stick or rod may be inserted,

for raising the device to the tops of trees, in which in- 'stance a string orcord, attached to the end'of the han.-

dle or lever C, serves to draw it down, and thus operate the knife. l

By this combination, I am provided at once with a suitable implement for performing all the operations necessary in pruning trees, and one which can be easily operated andphandled, even among thc top branches of the tree.

The implement is cheap and effective in its construction, and possesses suliicient leverage and strength Witnesses:

JOHN L. Booms, WM. Gunmen. 

